Seal for car-doors, shipping-receptacles, &amp;c.



J. J. A. MILLER.

SEAL FOR OAR DOORS, SHIPPING REOEPTAOLES, 6w.

APPLICATION FILED TAILS, 1910.

Patented Sept. 20, 1910.

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JOHN J. A. MILLER, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

SEAL FOR CAR-DOORS, SHIPPING-RECEPTACLES, 8w.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 20, 1910.

Application filed January 3, 1910. Serial No. 536,038.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN J. A. MILLER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing in the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented a new and useful Seal for Car-Doors, Shipping- Receptacles, &c., of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to seals for car doors, shipping receptacles, etc., and is designed as an improvement upon aseal for which Letters Patent of the United States were granted to me on August 24, 1909, No. 932,159.

The object of the present invention is to provide a seal comprising a resilient metal member, )referably a piece of suitable wire, which is bent to form an open band or ring, one end of which is provided with a spring lock, While the other end is shouldered and is designed to be inserted in said lock and to be non-releasably engaged thereby when inserted, the lock being so inclosed as to preclude the possibility of its being tampered with. Further, to provide a seal of this character, which is simple in construction, practical in operation, and which is provided with a number receiving plate and with a name receiving plate, which are formed by flattening the wire. These ob jects are accomplished by the device illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a plan view of the blank from which the spring lock is formed. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the blank after the same has been pressed or stamped to upset the ends and a portion of the adjacent side edges thereof. Fig. 3 is a side view of the completed lock. Fig. 4 is an end view thereof. Fig. 5 is a front view of the seal showing the same in its locked position, the locking device and housing therefor being in section. Fig. 6 is a sectional view of a modified form of the spring lock. Fig. 7 is a plan view thereof; and Fig. 8 is a sectional view, illustrating the modified form of seal in locked position.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which the views are all on an enlarged scale: The numeral 1 designates the body of the seal, which preferably consists of a piece of resilient wire of suitable length and gage, which may be bent into any practicable form such as an open square, circle or triangle. In Fig. 5 the wire is bent substantially in the form of a triangle, the two unbroken sides of which are flattened, as shown, to form plates 2 and 3, the plate 2 being a number-receiving plate and the plate 3 a name or initial-receiving plate, whereon may be stamped either the name or the initials of the individual or company using the seal. One end of the wire is upset to form thereon a flange 4, while the other end is tapered to a point, and an annular shoulder is formed a short distance from the pointed end, either by cutting an annular groove in the wire, or, as shown in Fig. 5, by cutting away the surface of the wire to form an annular tapered portion 5, which terminates in an abrupt shoulder 6.

A tubular housing 7 is secured upon the flanged end of the wire so as to project a suitable distance beyond the same, and this housing is adapted to inclose and hold a spring lock 8, which will be presently de scribed. The housing 7 consists of a metal tube of greater diameter than the wire, one end of which is placed over the flanged end of the wire and pressed upon the same so as to engage the wire tightly back of the flange t, and also form an annular pocket 9 around the flange, which engages the same on each side, and prevents the housing from being moved endwise in either direction. A portion of the free end of the housing is then reduced in diameter by pressing to correspond to its opposite end, which engages the wire back of the flange, and this reduced end 10 is adapted to fit snugly around the free end of the wire when the seal is locked, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 5.

At the junction of the reduced end 10 and the main portion of the housing a shoulder 11 is formed, which is adapted to retain the lock 7 within the housing, and this look is placed in the housing before the end is reduced in diameter to form the said shoulder. The lock 7 as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, is formed from a spring steel blank, which is of the outline shown in Fig. 1, comprising a central body portion 12 and end members 13 of slightly greater width than the body portion, the opposite ends of the blank being formed with semi-circular recesses 14, as shown.

By the operation of a suitable die and punch, the blank is given the form shown in Fig. 2, in which the ends are upset to form substantially semicircular lips or flanges 15, while the sides of the end members are correspondingly upset, as shown at .16. The lock is then formed by bending the blank into the shape shown in Fig. 3, and when thus bent the greatest diameter of the lock is enough less than the interior diameter of the housing to permit of the spreading'of theopposite members of the look when the free end of the seal is inserted in the housing. When the lock is inserted withinthe housing and the shoulder 11 formed by reducing the diameter of the end of the housing, as previously mentioned, the semi-circular introverted flanges 15 of the lock will engage the said shoulder, which will prevent the lock from being withdrawn from the housing. The inturned side edges 16 of the lock form a continuation of the flanges 15, and thus bind the said flanges to the body portion of the lock, and prevent them from being bent outward.

In Figs. 6 and 7 is illustrated a modification in the form of the lock, in which the said lock is formed with end flanges17, and

the inturned' side edges are slit transversely so as to form on each side two or more independent locking members 18, which are bent to lie at an angle corresponding to the tapered free end of the seal. With this form of lock, the end of the. seal whichis inserted in the housing is provided wit-h two or more shoulders 19, as shown in Fig. 8,

which are engaged by the semi-circular end flanges l7, and also by the rear edges of thelocking members 18, when the said end is inserted in the housing, as will be apparent. This form of lock is not only very strong, but additional security is provided by the plurality of locking members, as, in

the event of the breaking of one or more of the locking members, the end of the seal would still be securely held by the remaining members.

In practice,.the seals are constructed substa-ntially as shown in Fig. 5, and the shoulintroverted d'ered an of the seal is in line with the open ing in the housing, but far eno th away from it to permit of either end 0 the seal being passed through the staple of a car gage the said shoulder and securely lock this end of the seal to thehousing. The reduced end 10 of the housing fits so closely around the shouldered end of the seal as to prevent the insertion of a tool or implement for the purpose of tampering with the lock. The seal may be broken by severing the wire in the usual manner.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a seal as specified, a wire bent to a suitable fonm, having a flange on one end and an annular shoulder on itsopposite end; a tubular housing secured upon the flanged end of said wire, having an annular abutment adjacent to its open end; a U-shaped resilient lock in said housing having intro verted locking flanges at its ends, adapted to engage the annular shoulder on the opposite end of the wire when the said end is inserted in the housing, the lock being held within the housing by the annular abutment.

In testimony whereof- I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN J. A. MILLER. Witnesses:

G. SARGENT ELLIOTT, ADELLA M. FowLE. 

